Recently, Microsoft (owners of the Hotmail & MSN domains) increased their bulk mail filtering. I contacted Microsoft and asked for tips that I could pass along to StreamSend customers who are having problems getting their mail to MSN/Hotmail members. Most of the suggestions below have already been covered in our weekly Deliverability Webinar - click here to register for our next webinar.

Strengthen your sign up process. Confirm that you are using a double-opt-in sign up process. This will not help in removing existing Hotmail customers from your e-mail lists, but it will confirm the authenticity of those who sign-up for your e-mail campaigns and newsletters.

If you have any feedback loops setup with other ISPs you should look for trends to try to determine possible causes - a new data source? New advertisement? Maybe folks signing up don't recognize the mail?

Clearly mark your e-mails so that Hotmail customers are able to quickly and easily identify that they requested e-mails from your service.

Do some analysis on the data regarding complaints - look at Hotmail customers who have never clicked, opened, responded or bounced in any way. These poor performers could contain many bad addresses.

Clean up your lists. Remove those who do not want to receive your emails. Make the unsubscribe process more visible.

Once the form is submitted you should hear back from Microsoft within 48 hours. Microsoft’s initial response will most likely recommend setting up SPF records and joining their complaint feedback loop program (Junk Email Reporting Program). Reply back telling them that both are in place and you would like to have the issue forwarded to their filtering department for review.

You might have to be persistent, especially if they start telling you about their SmartScreen filter. Just keep replying that you would like to have your issue forwarded to their filtering department for further review.

IF Microsoft tells you that there is a problem with your SPF record, or you need additional assistance, please forward their response to us through our online support system at:

Since mid February, email marketers have been having an especially hard time getting messages delivered successfully to their Yahoo! members. Below are steps that should help.

But first, I think it is important to note that this is an industry wide problem and not just limited to any one Email Service Provider, so do not take it personally.

Try sending your messages during non-peak email times. Since Yahoo! is deferring messages based on their server load, it makes perfect sense to send when the load is the lightest. I would try scheduling your email blasts for between 2:00 pm and 3:00 am pacific daylight time.

Limit the amount of Yahoo! mail by only sending to your best members. If Yahoo! is only going to let 3,000 of my 10,000 message through, I want those 3,000 messages to go to previous openers and clickers. Why waste one of the precious successful deliveries on a member who have never opened one of your messages?

If your Yahoo! members are contacting you complaining that they are not receiving your messages, you can suggest that they consider subscribing to your list with a secondary email address, or visit your website frequently for timely news and updates. You can also post a similar suggestion on your website.

Let Yahoo! know you are having trouble getting your request mail delivered by filling out this online form.

My only memory of Jelly Belly before they became a customer of StreamSend was that they were Ronald Reagan's favorite jelly bean and that he kept a jar on his desk. This made headlines and really put Jelly Belly on the map. Their sales shot up and they became a household name. Having the President of the United States endorse your product helps sales a lot. As a kid, I imagined visiting dignitaries rooting around the White House candy jar picking out their favorite flavors.

Jump ahead a few decades and we are thrilled with Jelly Belly's success using StreamSend for their email marketing. Jelly Belly's email marketing initiatives originally got coverage in Internet Retailer, which led to this interview in DMNews. Jason Marrone, Jelly Belly's E-Commerce Marketing Manager, has done a great job of revitalizing and improving Jelly Belly's email marketing.

As fate would have it, one of our other customers is an online retailer, Natural Candy Store, that sells Jelly Belly's line of all-natural jelly beans. Isn't it cool that there is now natural candy available, including Jelly Bellies!

I thought some of you might be interested in this case study of one of our customers: Jelly Belly. Internet Retailer published the story.

It was good publicity for both StreamSend and for Jelly Belly. By the way, if you are a StreamSend customer and think you might be interested in a case study being done about you and your experiences with the StreamSend email marketing service, please email me at marketing [at] ezpublishing.com

I'm proud to announce that StreamSend is now offering the all-new Hiatus Plan. If your business only sends Emails during certain months of year, then it's a great way to save some money! It gives you full access to your account (reports, subscribers, etc.) but will not allow you to send out any Emails. If you know your business will not be sending out Emails during your next billing cycle(s), downgrade to the Hiatus Plan. Once you need Email marketing capability, simply upgrade (instantly) to your usual plan to get right back from where you left off.